New law to protect high school students from head injuries

Posted on Jul 24, 2014

As of January 1, 2015, California high school students will have additional protection from head injuries and brain trauma sustained in school sports programs.

Nationwide, hundreds of thousands of high school students sustain concussions in football programs. Most are a result of practice, not during actual games. Most concussions are not accompanied by unconsciousness, and most concussions and head injuries go undetected. Students who suffer a concussion are more likely to suffer an additional concussion than someone who has never sustained a concussion. Symptoms can include headache, dizziness and sensitivity to light. Symptoms can also include brain damage, memory loss and cognitive impairment and can last a lifetime.

The new law signed by Governor Jerry Brown will will require students who get concussions to stop participating in athletic activities for one week in order to help promote the healing process. It limits the amount of full contact practices per day and per week in public, and private middle and high schools. Any student suspected of having sustained a concussion or head injury in an athletic activity must be immediately removed from the athletic activity for the remainder of the day and will not be permitted to return to athletic activity until he or she is examined by a health care practitioner and receives written clearance to return to that activity.

Having represented student athletes who have sustained serious head injuries while engaging in athletic activities at school, we at the Law Offices of John P. Rosenberg applaud these efforts to protect young men and women in schools, prevent head injuries, recognize them sooner and treat them immediately and effectively.